8 ms·
One of the advantages of getting older is that you develop some perspective on crap like this. I never check work email at night or on weekends anymore. And I j
by ams6110 8y ago
One of the advantages of getting older is that you develop some perspective on crap like this. I never check work email at night or on weekends anymore. And I just tell people "no" when they ask me to do work stuff on a weekend. The world continues to turn.
- randycupertino 8y agoI think this is why companies often have a bias towards hiring naive younger workers- they're more likely to be cool with being exploited and haven't established any healthy work/life boundaries yet. I worked somewhere that "specialized" in hiring younger newish grads from the midwest. They'd bring them out to the Bay Area, pay them way under market. The people would put in a year to two years at $75k working 70 hour weeks before they realized it was an intolerable and nonsustainable situation. The younger people were more excited over the free lunch and pingpong tables to care about comp, let alone making rent.
- falcor84 8y ago> The people would put in a year to two years at $75k working 70 hour weeks before they realized it was an intolerable and nonsustainable situation. Indeed unsustainable, but getting that experience and Bay Area connections might quite likely be a rational career choice for these grads
- gnu8 8y agoNegative, those things are external to any employment position and not something an employer is entitled to discount salary against.
- duado 8y agoEmployers can do whatever they want if the employees are OK with it. When I was 22 I signed up for a job that kept me in hotels 250 nights a year. I loved it but now with kids would obviously tell any such job to go fuck itself.
- jacobreg 8y agoSure, but companies have a heck of a lot more bargaining power than individuals. I don't think "this didn't cause large numbers of employees to quit" means that this was okay.
- Bekwnn 8y agoDo you think it's better than spending that same time socializing with coworkers outside of work? Because it isn't.
- krageon 8y agoThis is a variant of "do it for the exposure", which is deeply disrespectful to anyone's time and dignity. Regardless of whether or not you are right in terms of money made, society as a whole would benefit if we stopped playing that particular rigged game.
- jtd514 8y agosounds like the game industry
- malloreon 8y agothis sounds like Palantir to me
- kokokokoko 8y agoNot only that, but those hours put your hourly rate around $20. Which is about what you would make as an assistant manager at a retail store in the Bay Area.
- president 8y agoAs a result, you're probably the first to go in a layoff scenario. Maybe it's not a problem for you but for many, it is tough to regain footing after getting axed.
- sjg007 8y agoAh yes.. Logan’s run logic.
- ryanmcbride 8y agoAny company that lays me off for having boundaries is a company I don't want to work for. Work-life balance is pretty much the _only_ think I optimize for when looking for jobs now. I'm fine being flexible once in a while but if the default assumption is that I will be available on slack every night, I'm not gonna stay there.
- president 8y agoAgree completely but the amount of decent companies with work-life balance is rare in the Bay Area. If they exist, they won't for long.
- ryanmcbride 8y agoStartups I agree, but working for a more mature company makes it much easier to find this balance. Also, unlimited remote means that I don't _have_ to find a job in the Bay Area. The tradeoff there though is that Non-Bay companies offer much less compensation.
- dasil003 8y agoDepends entirely on management priorities. I make sure to never take a job that judges me on butt-in-seat or mean-time-to-email-response. That way I can build skills that actually matter and take that to my next role whether it be at my own startup, in mgmt at bigco, or as a consultant.
- arvinsim 8y ago
- godelski 8y agoI'm not old, but I tell people that I don't check work emails when I go home. But I give the offer that they can call me. Usually this leads to almost never being contacted on the weekend or after hours, and only really when there is a dire need. People seem to be more hesitant to call or text than send an email, and so this method works. But that's part of the implied condition. I think it is fair to call someone after hours for emergency type stuff, but not typical work stuff. Doing this has facilitated a healthy work life balance and I believe leads to better productivity.
- tfigment 8y agoI basically do the same. We are critical development/operational support so I have to have on-call support and do so 1 week at a time with primary and backup (I'm implied 2nd backup if not higher in chain). But my google voice number is only listed on the official schedule website and not in the company contact database so only those that need to know know. The best thing that ever happened to me was company implementing a lockdown policy so that email/chat/... are only allowed from company assets so I am totally cutoff from work via my phone except through that list and the best part is it by the companies own policy. I only get true emergency calls now.
- godelski 8y agoSounds like a good pitch for recruiting!
- innagadadavida 8y agoIt is more tricky when some of this will show up on your perf review and the bonus/RSU grants reflect it. I’ve seen some people circumvent all this by taking sick days liberally and just tow the company line. Any other advice to handle thes situations nicely balancing work/life/$$$ ?
- sebazzz 8y agoIt might be my bubble, but it is also a more of a team spirit thing. I live in a country with good laws regarding employment and my young coworkers in my team don't work outside office hours and don't read email. In other teams in the same business unit of the company it is a whole different story.